Julius Caesar biography
Ch 6
J
ulius Caesar was a Roman general and politician
who overthrew the Roman Republic and
established the rule of the emperors. Caesar used
the problems and hardships of the period to
create his own supreme political and military power.
Roman Julius Caesar is regarded as one of the most
powerful and successful leaders in the history of the
world. His life and his violent death have been
widely celebrated in literature and film.
Caesar's first important political
success came in 63 B.C.E., when
he was elected pontifex maximus,
the chief religious office in Rome
that carried important political
possibilities. Caesar was then
elected praetor (an elected Roman
official) for 62 B.C.E. and served
his propraetorship in Spain.
Caesar was quick to take
advantage of his power by waging
a successful campaign against
some native tribes in a Roman
province in western Europe.
Meanwhile, his political enemies
accused him of provoking, or
starting, the war.
First Triumvirate
In 59 B.C.E. Caesar won an
election to become consul, or an
official ruling over foreign lands. The Senate,
immediately moving to block his hopes of future
political power, assigned him to lands that offered
Caesar no possibilities for military glory. Caesar, who
desired more glamorous political and military
opportunities, saw that he needed allies to overcome
his opponents in the Senate.
Caesar soon found the alliance that would become
known as the First Triumvirate. He aligned himself
with the Roman General Pompey (106–48 B.C.E.),
who brought wealth and military might, and Crassus
(140–91 B.C.E.), a powerful Roman politician who
brought important political connections. The alliance
was further sealed in 58 B.C.E. with the marriage of
Caesar's only daughter, Julia, to Pompey.
Foundations
Revolt in Gaul
Caesar was awarded the governorship of Gaul
(modern day France), a Roman province occupied by
several tribes. While Roman control in Gaul was
limited, Rome did have political relations with tribes
beyond the actual border of the province. Caesar
quickly took advantage of these connections and the
shifting power position in Gaul to extend the realm
of Roman control.
Caesar decided to undertake an
expedition
against
Britain,
whose tribes maintained close
contacts with Gaul. These
expeditions in 55 and 54 B.C.E.
created great enthusiasm in
Rome, as for the first time
Roman arms had advanced
overseas
to
conquer
new
peoples.
Caesar
probably
thought that his main task of
conquest was complete. In 52
B.C.E., however, Gaul rose in
widespread rebellion against
Caesar under Vercingetorix, a
nobleman of a tribe in Gaul. This
revolt
greatly
threatened
Caesar's power base.
At the same time, the political
situation in Rome was equally
chaotic. The tribune (Roman official) had been
murdered, and his death was followed by great
disorder in Rome. Caesar had crossed the Alps to
watch the changing conditions in Rome. When the
news of revolt in Gaul reached him, he recrossed the
Alps and rallied his divided army. Caesar's forces
lost several battles to Vercingetorix but he made the
mistake of taking refuge in the fortress of Alesia,
however. Caesar used the best of Roman siege
techniques and encircled the fortress to capture the
enemy. Soon Vercingetorix was forced to surrender.
Dissolving the Triumvirate
Caesar's long absence from Rome had partially
weakened his political power. At the same time
Caesar's conquests were well publicized. His
Commentaries, which described the campaigns,
circulated among the reading public in Rome.
Julius Caesar biography
Ch 6
Caesar sought to place his conquests in the best
possible light, and the Commentaries stressed the
importance of defending the friends and allies of
Rome against traditional Roman enemies. He had
made vast additions to the Roman Empire (about
640,000 square miles) at the expense of peoples who
had long been enemies of Rome.
Pompey, on the other hand, had remained in Rome
and strengthened his political position by appearing
as a leader in a time of chaos. Other tensions in the
alliance came with Julia's death in 54 B.C.E., which
removed an important bond between the two men.
The death of Crassus in 53 B.C.E. further weakened
the relationship between Pompey and Caesar.
Civil war
When Caesar returned to Rome in 50 B.C.E., the
Senate looked to put him on trial for acts he
committed while acting as consul. Caesar now had
two choices: he could bow to the will of the Senate
and be destroyed politically, or he could start a civil
war. Caesar chose war.
It the beginning the greater power seemed to rest
with Pompey and the Senate, as Pompey had
powerful resources with which to draw support
against Caesar. However, Caesar had at his
command a tough, loyal, and experienced army, as
well as an extensive following in Italy. Most of all,
he was fighting for his own interests alone and did
not have to face the divisions of interest, opinion,
and leadership that plagued Pompey.
Pompey quickly decided to abandon Italy to Caesar
and fell back to the East. Caesar secured his position
in Italy and Gaul and then defeated Pompey at
Pharsalus on Aug. 9, 48 B.C.E. Pompey fled to Egypt
and was killed by the young pharaoh Ptolemy (63–
47 B.C.E.).
Caesar followed Pompey to Egypt and became
involved in the struggle for power in the house of
Ptolemy, a family in Egypt that ruled for
generations. The main result of his time in Egypt
was the affair that developed between Caesar and
Cleopatra (51–30 B.C.E.), Ptolemy's sister and joint
Foundations
ruler of Egypt. She would later give birth to Caesar's
son, Caesarion.
Consolidation of the empire
Although his rival was eliminated, much work
remained to make Caesar's position secure. He
adopted a policy of special clemency, or mercy,
toward his former enemies and rewarded political
opponents with public office. For himself he adopted
the old Roman position of dictator, a ruler with
absolute power.
There has been much debate about what political
role Caesar planned for himself. He certainly thought
the old government was weak and desired to replace
it with some form of rule by a single leader. Just
before his death, Caesar was appointed dictator for
life. About the same time, he began issuing coins
with his portrait on them, something never before
practiced in Rome up to that time. Caesar was
planning major improvements to transform the
capital of the empire he commanded. New colonial
foundations were under way, and he reordered the
defective Roman calendar.
Death and legacy
In Rome, dissatisfaction was growing in the Senate
over the increasingly permanent nature of Caesar's
rule. A conspiracy was formed to remove Caesar and
restore the government to the Senate. The
conspirators hoped that, with Caesar's death,
government would be restored to its old republican
form and all of the factors that had produced Caesar
would disappear. The conspiracy progressed with
Caesar either ignorant of it or not recognizing the
warning signs. On the Ides of March (March 15), 44
B.C.E., he was stabbed to death in the Senate house
of Pompey by a group of men that included old
friends and allies.
With Caesar's murder, Rome plunged into thirteen
years of civil war. Caesar remained for some a
symbol of an over-dominant leader, and for others
the founder of the Roman Empire whose ghost has
haunted Europe ever since. For all, he is a figure of
genius and courage equaled by few in history.